Does John Calipari Cheat?

I have no evidence to back this up, but I'd be willing to bet that Cal pays for recruits. I mean how do you get the number one recruits to come to your school consistently. It has to be pretty difficult to convince kids to come kentucky or tennessee, and yet Cal somehow does it. He always gets the hoodest, blackest, guys (the ones most likely to come for money) also. His whole thing where he payed tyreke evans uncle 60 Gs a year to be a coach also seems pretty fishy. It just seems extremely unlikely that he could always get the number one guys- is his personality just that great, what does he tell these kids?

I think bribery happens on a much more serious level than most people think. Too much is on the line for these college coaches. The oj mayo incidence didn't suprise me at all. Its only funny because Floyd is such a moron he got caught, when i'm sure tons of other coaches are doing it.

Calipari knows the rules and knows what he can and cannot in player recruitment. The ncaa rule book is extensive but it has loopholes. A player can be regularly contacted by someone who isn't associated with the team through blood family, faculty, or past student athletes. Through william wesley he was able to get in contact with many high-profile recruits. As long as the person your associated with doesn't give the player money or monetary possesions you can speak through them when recruiting a player. Also hiring family members is known practice by many other schools. Kansas state hired Michael Beasleys AAU coach, I remember Darius Washington and his coach had package deal to go to Florida but Washington changed his mind and went to Memphis. Their are ways around any rule book, you just got to study it and find grey area.

I am pretty sure that all coaches cheat to some degree because in college you can win off of just talent. The good coaches make million and maybe get NBA deals so taking the risk of sitting out a few season is something that will risk. There is so much money in College basketball and Football that I am sure that some form of cheating goes on and like they you are only in trouble if you get caught. Why do you think coaches like to get those big contracts and stuff. They may not have to cheat with every recruit but if you cheat with some it may attract the recruits that don't come with that kind of baggage.

I agree with you...most major programs probably cheat and pay players to come. I don't know if Cal is any more at fault, or any worse, than other coaches at it. I do know players love to play for him. His coaching style allows players to play to their strengths and shine. He looks out for his players too. He told both Derrick Rose and DaJuan Wagner "If you want to do what's best for me and my family stay in school. If you want to do what's best for you and your family go to the NBA." He loves recruiting the one-and-done's. He's not a Coach K, trying to produce high-character guys with college degrees who can play basketball. Cal wants to produce NBA basketball players...and hopefully win a title along the way.
If it were me, I'd want to play for Cal more than any other coach in college, hands down.

Your so dumb, you dont know what your talking about. John Calipari does not cheat. He is a great recruit and a great head coach. If he came to the team that you guys like then i gurantee you dont say anything about it because he is the best recruiter there is out there. Some coaches out there do cheat and pay money. And i know he did, BUT that was a mistake in his life and everybody makes mistakes. And maybe he thought that tyreke evans uncle was a good coach and he wanted him. And i am a UK fan but even if i wasnt then i would still be proud of kentucky because John Calipari is a GREAT COACH. I would love to play for him. And whoever agrees with the writer of this article is dumb because he is wrong. JUST WAIT TILL KENTUCKY MAKES IT TO THE FINAL FOUR THIS YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So he isnt a cheater he is just a GREAT RECRUITER.

Umass had there final four appearance wiped out of the record books for Camby's infractions. Calipari was the coach then. I still like him and would let him coach my team he gets it done. They almost won the title that year, they have not been good really since. A coach who sends a lot of succesful players to the NBA get the upper hand in recruiting anyways. His guys go pro and do well in the NBA. Kids want to play for a guy that makes that happen.

he has experience, knowledge about the game and life, intensity, all his recruits fit his system, and kentucky not only has great tradition but even before wall comitted was a top 5 team, John Wall should be the one begging to play for Coach Cal

I don't think he cheats i think he's just good at inspiring his recruits and helps them get to the next level. I think he tells them wat they want to hear and he backs up what he is saying so i dont think he cheats at all.

Hey man I respect what he does. If i was a college coach and could give recruits money and get away with it, id do it an a heartbeat. I understand that he is a great recruiter, but if he really doesn't cheat then he makes every other coach in college basketball look like a recruiting moron. do u think self and roy williams are telling the one-and-dones we only want you if you stay four years; no, there telling them the same thing as calipari is telling them. he consistently gets the number one guys and they almost always have character issues (banks, williams, wagner, dorsey, evans a little, wall just got arested) ie. the ones most likely who are trying to get paid. i just find it hard to believe that he can so often get these ridiculous recruiting classes without alot of questionable business. I respect Cal though to the fullest and wish he was a coach at my favorite program, but dude is grimy.

i agree with the point that many college programs "cheat" in some way.

Also, another guy associated with WWW, O.J. Mayo, was just found taking money from his university. Connection?

Obviously, this is an impossible point because there is no hard evidence. But if you had to say which coach in college basketball, that hasn't been caught yet, is most likely to give money to their recruits can you say anyone else but Cal?

Jealous much? The man is a winner and he gets guys to the league. Look at Rose and Evans. Look at CDR (a guy no one recruited). The guy finds talent or goes for the hyped players and makes them draft-able. That is all there is to it. Who cares if some of his guys are one and done.... he at least lets freshman shine. That is why players want to go to UK now. Plus, UK gets the television exposure.

Look, I'm not hatin' on the guy, but Kentucky has been DEAD the last couple of years, and Memphis is gonna be lucky to make the win the C-USA this year. What does Calipari have that other coaches don't?

That will tell you everything you need to know... You have to be a complete fool if you think these guys don't get anything... My friend was ranked like 90 in the nation at his position in football and still had girls and money set up when he went on a recruiting trip... Could you imagine 5 star recruits in basketball? It happens from EVERY major school... Gary Williams at MD, maybe the only exception... You have to be complete fool if you think Cal isn't doing anything wrong... It's almost like baseball with you know a lot of the stars took steriods but since it hasn't surface people don't wanna cope with that fact... Albert, Ortiz, Pedroia, etc are legitamate suspects, will anyone say that? NO!!! Same thing with this Cal stuff, he won't get looked at until something surface... Stevie can see that his recruiting is flawed...

I there a coincidence that Cal and World Wide Wes are best friends? Wes gave him Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans. He also has 2 commited players that aren't qualified yet in John Wall and Eric Bledsoe. His graduation rate at Memphis was somewhere around 30%. Isn't he also over the scholarship limit? I wouldn't say he cheats, but it wouldn't surprise me. He does a lot of things that raise questions.

Other than the fact that he runs a program that revolves around one and done players, I can't comment on Calipari, because just like everyone else in this forum, I don't have any evidence.

However, I can say that once academics are factored into the equation, college football and basketball are a joke . They're supposed to be student athletes, but anyone with an IQ above 50 knows most of the elite players aren't students. They're professional athletes in waiting. In that regard, everyone is being cheated by a program that focuses upon one and done players who clearly have zero interest in going to school and/or graduating.

If education is a criteria, even if he plays be the rules, you may want to classify Calipari as a cheater because he doesn't recruit real students. And he's not alone, most NCAA coaches would kill to have the same players, even if only for one year. But let's not kid ourselves, everyone agrees they aren't students.

Note:

The NBA should eliminate that stupid rule about high school players. If an 18 year old wants to fight for his country in Afghanistan or Iraq, he can do such, but he can't join the NBA. Where's the logic in that? If the NBA changes that rule, who will Calipari recruit?

i agree wit you except for the maybe evans dad is a good coach thats why he got hired...its not cheating but its common sense that he and many coachs hire family memebers to get kids..hes done that before with d.wagner as i recall..but thats not cheating..coaches also give scholarships to there best buddies inf it means getting the kid

i see the point youre trying to make but i just cant agree with it...yes calipari is a good recruiter but his classes arent ranked one or 2 every year..when you look at classes duke and nc are right up there year in and year out and trust me there arent as clean as some would have you believe my point is why not call out coach k and coach whoever is coaching at unc at any given time...players want to play fro coach cal for the simple fact he has a great track record for preparing players for the nba and the style of offense that he runs..its alot like playing in aau which is what players love.

good point..i agree 100percent..its no longer studant athlete and the ncaa knows it its not even truley amateur really because the school makes soooooooooooo much money off these guys its ridiculous...but even if they changed the rule calipari would still get some good recruits just like he did before the rule

Josh, the rule is hypocritical and the NBA needs to change it. Having said that, I agree that Calipari would still do well. But right now, under the current rules, he recruits guys who have ZERO interest in education and will almost certainly leave after 1 or 2 years at most. In sum, he will have great players, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will have great teams.

but you can say that about alot of schools...any player that is a top ten talent has no interest in education and the ncaa is just a stepping stone to get to the nba..even the players that stay they stay because they know they wont be drafted high but if told that they would be lotto they would be gone just as fast as the other one and done kids so education means next to nothing at any of the schools to these kids and i dont blame them you go to college so you can get a good paying job

There have been bits and pieces of my opinion on this all over...while i wouldnt be all too surprised if i found that schools were cheating or paying kids (the football players at my school seem like it at times), i really dont factor it into my opinion of what draws kids.

I think the reason he gets players is that he has an up and down system that makes players look good, esp ones who can run (rose, wall, cousins, evans...just in the last couple years)...the system allows you to be shown off for the many tv appearances you get under Cal. He produces so many one and done type talents because it takes less time in his system to stand out and get hype. As far as the low character athletes looking for $...i would say that fits in only because those ones who want money ASAP go to Cal because they know he can boost their stock fast enough to have them in the draft the following year.

As I mentioned in a more detailed response earlier in this thread, we don't know for sure if Calipari's cheating. However, we do know that education is probably at the bottom of his priority list. When you focus upon "One and Done" players, everyone knows they aren't students. They're using the college and their basketball games as a development process for the NBA.

In that light, it really doesn't matter to me, he's a cheater even if he didn't personally break any rules.

This is not worth debating, he has compromised the integrity of every program that he has been associated with: Pitt, UMass, Memphis, and will eventually shame UK.

Little known fact about Calipari:

While at Pitt, Calipari told recruits that Lou Carnesseca was dying of cancer as an attempt to keep them from committing to St. John's. A family friend, whose name I will not mention, was told this by JC.

Calipari should be banned from coaching in the NCAA, he makes Kelvin Sampson look like an altar boy when infractions are compared.